“And you can be away for a week or two after the wedding?”

“Uh-huh.” He nuzzled her neck. “I’ll leave Max in charge. It’ll be fine.” Rolling her earlobe between his teeth, he bit down and sent a charge of desire rippling through her body. “Where do you want to go on this honeymoon of ours?”

“Anywhere. I don’t care. As long as it’s just us for days and days and days on end.”

“Don’t forget the nights.”

“Mmm, that, too.”

“So second week of May,” he said. “It’s a date?”

“Yes, Colton, it’s a date.”

“Good, now let’s get naked to celebrate.”

Lucy laughed at his boyish glee as he said those words and started tugging at her clothes, which were removed with the impressive efficiency she’d become accustomed to. Usually he was all about driving her out of her mind before they got to the main event, but today he skipped all the preliminaries and entered her in one deep stroke that had her gasping from the impact.

“Ah God, Lucy…” Raising himself up on his elbows, he gazed down at her, brushing the hair back from her face. “Don’t ever be afraid to talk to me about whatever is on your mind. Promise?”

“I promise. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to doubt you or us. I should’ve known everything would be okay.”

“You have nothing at all to worry about where I’m concerned, Luce. You’ve owned me from the first day I met you and every day since. I love you so much. You have no idea.”

“I think I do, and I love you just as much.”

“We got this, Luce.” He gathered her in even closer to him. “Don’t ever doubt that.”

With her hands on his face, she kissed him. “I won’t.”

Chapter 21

Love cures people—both the ones

who give it and the ones who receive it.

—Karl A. Menninger

Grayson switched seats with another passenger so he could sit next to them on the plane. Emma sat in the middle, between him and Simone, who’d wanted the window seat. Since they’d driven to Vermont with Emma’s dad, this was Simone’s first-ever ride on a plane. She was all but vibrating with excitement and had asked a million questions about what to expect.

“Is this really happening?” Emma whispered to him as the plane taxied out for takeoff.

“It’s really happening.”

“I was so sad when I woke up this morning.”

“And now?”

“Soooo not sad.”

“Good. I don’t want you to be sad about anything.”